When in New Orleans you will no doubt see carriages driving around the city, taking various types of tours. Pay attention to the animal hitched to the carriage: it will be a mule, not a horse. Come to find out there is city ordinances that prohibit the use of horses. The carriage industry supports these laws, including the regulations restricting the number of hours and days that each mule and driver is allowed to work.
We saw this mule hitched to a carriage at Jackson Square in New Orleans
What is a mule? A mule has a horse for a mother and a donkey for a father. Mules are smarter, up to 1.5 times stronger than a horse, live longer, and won’t work themselves to death. Mules also have a better tolerance to heat which is important with the high temps and high humidity common in New Orleans. It makes good sense to use mules in New Orleans.
Roadtirement 
Another interesting Mule fact is that Napoleon may appear on a white stallion crossing the alps in a famous painting but in reality he rode…. A Mule! much more sensible .
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So true, Anne. Mules have been the main beast of burden for a long time.
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On our first visit to New Orleans, we took one of these tours, and the carrage broke down in the Marigny. I wrote about this experience in one of my books.
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Did you break down next to a jazz bar? Seriously, have not heard of a carriage breaking down.
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it was a unique experience. We all climbed out of the buggy. the driver told us,”That’s a little bit of too bad.i was going to carry you over to the graveyard.” We had to walk up Esplande back to the river. Before we left the guy asked us if we knew any Amish people because he needed a new buggy.
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Cute that he asked for an Amish connection. Like the “That’s a little bit of too bad” phrase! Must be a Louisiana thing.
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He was an interesting man. We sat in his buggy for about 20 minutes waiting for him to get more customers so the ride would be cheaper. The experience worked out nicely for the book I wrote.
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NOLA I suspect is full of interesting events and experiences! Thanks for sharing yours.
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